One of the strands in Unit 3C is about Civil Rights in America, and specifically how far there is racial equality in America. The tragic death of Trayvon Martin, and the subsequent acquittal of the neighbourhood watchman who shot him, George Zimmerman has caused protest across America.
Any G&P student may be forgiven for thinking that the case is a simple matter; an unarmed black teenager walking in the rain to a relative' house is shot by an armed security officer in the street, who is let free by a system which sees African-Americans as inferior and prone to violence.
There is, however a more complex argument here; certainly there were faults, and the system "failed" Trayvon Martin (according to this article in the NY Times). Slate has an article here which discusses the over-reaction caused by the case.
I'm not sure yet that there is an easily digestible short-version of this, except to point out that the legal arguments were complex and can be easily caricatured. And to say that the experience of the case undoubtedly does ask how fair America is in racial terms, especially when considers the recent Supreme Court decision about the Voting Rights Act.
The Mirror has an article discussing racial inequality in America here.
No comments:
Post a Comment